Why can't I get this out of my head?

Liz used this song in spin class on Monday and I haven't been able to get rid of it since! I didn't even know the name or who sang it so I had to go searching. Who knew I liked Kid Rock?

My inner rocker

I have been a country music fan for the past 15 years. Last night the inner rocker came right back out of hiding. Esmerelda and I went to see Bon Jovi at the Verizon Center in DC. We had a good time catching up, having a good brisk walk, people watching and singing along with Jon. I saw someone in their vintage Slippery When Wet t-shirt, I remember that from high school and I just had my 20 year reunion. The crowd was entertaing to watch--grandparents & grandkids, families, drunk college guys, lots of mid-30s to mid-40s folks and the librarian looking lady behind us totally rocking out!

Jon has definitely gotten better with age, Richie, not so much!

Here is the playlist from the show:
LOST HIGHWAY
BAD NAME
RAISE YOUR HANDS
RUNAWAY
CAPT. CRASH
SLEEP w/ Jumpin' Jack Flash
IN THESE ARMS
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
BORN TO BE MY BABY
BLAZE OF GLORY w/ Knockin' On Heaven's Door intro
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
BAD MEDICINE w/ Shout
STRANGER - RICHIE VOX(YOU WANT T0)
MAKE A MEMORY
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU
BED OF ROSES
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
HAVE A NICE DAY
FAITH
PRAYER

ENCORE:
WANTED
I LOVE THIS TOWN

Just really great music from 1983-present, there is a band with some staying power! Oh the memories some of those songs brought back. Obviously I haven't been to a concert in a really long time because the $60 t-shirts made me blanch!

Mall Hair and Parachute Pants

Tonight Esmerelda and I are going to see Bon Jovi. When last I really listened to Bon Jovi mall hair and parachute pants were the rage. Where I grew up mall hair and "spraying for height" in ones bangs is still WAY too common but that is a whole other post! I went to my twentieth high school reunion last summer and I am sure I will be thinking of those folks tonight when Es and I are rocking out!

These days my taste runs more to the country side of things so I hope I get to hear this song:


It was a swim morning at 5:15 so I also hope I don't embarrass myself by falling asleep and drooling on the Metro!

Big hair & parachute pants

Mark Wills does a great job of recounting my growing up years (lyrics here). I'll be reliving it this weekend back in my hometown with the class of 1987, there has been some speculation about the appearance of parachute pants for those who can still fit into them.

In preparation there has been much picture posting, here is a picture of the fourth grade from my elementary school in 1979. I am third in from the left, second row from the top, tan dress and goofy glasses.

Down with O.P.P.

I am so tired of finding little girl pee and less often poop sitting in my toilets! What is up with that? When they started potty training I was lucky to get them to go but they ALWAYS flushed. Now I feel like I have to be on potty patrol every time I leave the house so as not to stink the whole place up. They are doing better about wiping well and even washing their hands. Flushing takes what, a second? Isn't it a little ironic that the song by the same name was from Naughty by Nature?

When I was a residence hall director at my alma mater in the early 90s I also worked with the alumni association. They ran a story about the alumni part in the student paper The Marcolian. Someone came and took a decent head shot and it ran with the article. My mother was impressed, I'm doubtful anyone else was. One day I went into the newspaper office, I can't even remember why, I'd never been there as a student. Hanging on their bulletin board was that head shot of me with a thought bubble with that very line in it. The looks on the faces of guys that worked for me was priceless, they stammered and turned red.

Redneck Woman

Growing up in the sticks of Southern Ohio I thought the only people who listened to country music were the "farmers" who proudly wore their bright blue FFA jackets and hung out in the Ag building. While I had to drive by cows between home and town I still saw myself as quite cosmpolitan. Now all I can do is laugh. I hadn't even driven on the interstate until I was 18--where I live now that Interstate pales in comparison to the 6 lane highway that runs behind my neighborhood.

I remember the song playing when I moved into my dorm freshman year--Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes was blasting from the room across the hall. I learned to appreciate a lot of music that year, some more than others. The remnants of the hair bands, the Violent Femmes, Randy Travis, Billy Ocean, Billy Joel, The Hooters, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the B-52s filled my college days. I listened to it all, often in an altered state at a fraternity house or in The Town House, our favorite bar. Country music was a small part of the mix but not the center of my music universe. That happened when I went off to graduate school.

I graduated from college with a degree in marketing during the recession. I couldn't bear the thought of taking job in telemarketing so when my alma mater offered me a chance to work there and give me a scholarship to go to graduate school I jumped at the chance! So began the commute from Marietta to Athens, OH 2-3 days a week for two years. Forty-eight miles of two lanes roads through rural Southern Ohio. I knew how far it was far it was to my destination from every landmark along the way. I knew the two places I could get gas and three radio stations--two of them played rap and one country, and thus my devotion to country music really began. I'd drive with the radio up at night to keep me awake, on beautiful blue skied days with the windows down singing at the top of my lungs on the endless black ribbon through nothingness.

I've heard all the jokes that go along with the stereotypes of country music, most of them from my husband. I've been to Jamboree in the Hills--the only time I've ever seen someone in a Speedo and cowboy boots. (My sister and BIL actually got engaged there) I saw Garth Brook in the height of his popularity. I tried to learn to line dance to Boot Scoot Boogie and God Bless Texas. While I wasn't much for the hats and boots (on myself), I did like the stories of country music and the fact I could make out the words and sing along. Oh yeah, the guys in tight jeans didn't hurt either. Then I grew up and moved to the 'burbs. I was a closet country fan for awhile but soon discovered I was far from alone, a lot of the other Mommies were listening to country too! What a relief, something else we could share besides stories of the kids.

These days one of my favorites is Watching You by Rodney Atkins its the story of a little boy who curses in the car and when his dad asks where he learned to talk like that--he replies "I've been watching you Dad." Later he asks his son where he learned to pray, again--I've been watching you Dad--a great reminder that they are watching us all the time and learning to be like us. PDQ has become a fan too, much to her father's chagrin, and sings it at the top of her lungs sometimes with the real words, sometimes with those she's made up as she goes along. Of course, the "hell yeah!" part of Redneck Woman, she's got that one down pat. She's also loves I Got a Brand New Girlfriend. I know that someday we will probably hate each others music, but for now its something that she and I can share and it makes me smile everytime she launches into her version of the song on the radio.